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SEAN CANTRELL
250 MX / 15TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / COPELAND DESIGN / MPG
>> The rookie from California made the east coast swing for the first time in his young career at round 4 of the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion- ship. After the first 2 rounds of the series were in his home state on tracks he is most likely familiar with, the KTM pilot will get his first taste of the humidity and soil that the eastern rounds of the series that makes them a whole dif- ferent animal than previous rounds. The start of this youngster’s professional racing career has been what is expected from a rookie. He has shown flash- es of elite speed, running up front in his first gate drop, while also showing rookie mistakes, fading late in races or making errors that lead to lost posi- tions. High Point was another learning weekend for Cantrell. A great start in moto 1 had him right in the mix up front. He battled tooth and nail with Cian- ciarulo in the first half of the race, climbing into 4th briefly before giving the position back to Cianciarulo. He would begin to fade as the race progressed and it was likely that an off camera error caused him to lose even more posi- tions before the end of the race. He would cross the line in 14th, 10 positions behind where he started the race. Moto 2 was another struggle for Sean and after not getting the start he had in moto 1 he had to spend the entire race in traffic with battles from start to finish. He would go on to cross the line in 15th which combined his moto finishes for a 15th overall. If he can improve his late race fitness and eliminate the small mistakes that are holding him back, Cantrell has the speed to finish top 5 and maybe even podium before the end of the season. He and the team will see if they can improve next weekend as the series rolls into Tennessee for the Muddy Creek National.
90 GRITMOTO • JUNE 18, 2017